Magic
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Emma is magical, and is left floundering when her new abilities start to manifest. Luckily, she has help.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Once Upon A Time and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

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A side effect of Emma Swan's job as the Savior was magical abilities. There had been little hints of it prior to the curse breaking - The ability to tell when someone was lying and getting Jefferson's hat to work – but her powers weren't fully realized until after she and Snow White returned to Storybrooke. It seems like breaking the curse had unlocked her abilities and they were now out in full force. And they weren't exactly sure of the full extent of her magic either, so everyone was a little on edge, including Emma herself. Needless to say, she was panicked and freaking out.

Emma was at Granny's eating breakfast with Henry and August (Fully human again as a result of something that Emma was still in deep denial in, but he was willing to wait for her to accept it.) when the lights started flickering repeatedly before finally turning off for good. Suffering from a headache, Emma had wished for darkness, but she hadn't expected that to happen. She looked up at the lights in confusion. "What the hell? Was there an accident or something?"

"I think you did it, dear." Granny smiled at her and then explained to them that Emma's fingers had been moving in an up and down motion before the lights had shut off.

She immediately felt a mixture of guilt and denial. "I don't think so, but sorry if I did? I should go into work to make sure that nothing has happened. August, can you take Henry back home? I think David and Mary Margaret are there for the whole day."

August exchanged a worried look with both Granny and Henry, but nodded. "Sure I can. I'm looking forward to catching up with the king and queen anyway." He was slightly terrified of James, but would never admit that out loud. And he couldn't lie about it if he was asked, so August hoped no one ever questioned him about it. He suspected James knew already, though.

"Alright. Be good, Henry, and I'll see you later." Emma kissed her son on the forehead and then hightailed it back to the station to avoid thinking about what she obviously hadn't done to the lights. She ignored the fact that the minute she left the diner, the lights immediately turned back on. It had just been a coincidence. This wasn't her fault. She was still just a normal woman, despite all the shit she had experienced in the past year.

After she kept herself busy for a few hours, Emma got tired of working and headed back to the apartment she shared part-time with Henry (She and Regina had joint custody, an arrangement they had worked out with a lawyer in town.) and full time with Snow and James. Her mother (And God, it was still weird for her to think that.) was just starting dinner when she walked through the door. "You're home! I'm making your favorite." Snow beamed at her daughter.

"That's great, Mar – Snow. Thanks." Emma still had a hard time trying to figure out which name to use (Mom and Dad were way off.), but it wasn't just a problem with her. Many people in Storybrooke were having identity crises and couldn't figure out which name to use. And others weren't sure what to call them either. It was pretty confusing.

"You're welcome. Henry and your father are practicing sword fighting again." Snow was glad that her husband and grandson had bonded when she and Emma were away. It was very adorable and she was glad that this world had cameras so she could take pictures.

"Let's hope one – or both – of them doesn't come whining to us when they hurt themselves again." Emma had been terrified a few weeks earlier when James came bursting into the apartment with a crying Henry, only to find out that her son had a minor cut. He had been back at it with his grandfather the next day, acting like nothing had even happened.

Snow laughed. "James did overreact a little." She stirred the sauce around and went back to cooking the noodles. Dinner was ready within the hour.

Snow, James, Emma, and Henry enjoyed a nice family meal that night and then sat down to watch one of Henry's favorite movies. They did this every so often, and it was pretty enjoyable to them all, even though Emma didn't want to admit it. (Everyone saw right through her, but didn't tell her that.) She even forgot all about her so called magical abilities until another incident occurred a week and a half later.

Emma was talking with August in the living room about their plans for the next night since Henry was going to be at Regina's when Snow and James walked in and startled her. She jumped and the next thing she knew, a pot from the kitchen was floating in the air as if it was getting ready to strike. Emma reacted badly and started to freak out. "What the fuck is going on here?"

As Snow admonished her daughter for her language, James laughed. That probably would have been his reaction, too, and he wasn't afraid to admit it. "You want to call off your attack pot?"

Emma glared at her father. "I would if I knew how."

"Should I just grab it? I can." August went to reach for it, but Snow stopped him instead and shook her head.

"Emma needs to figure out how to return it on her own or she'll never learn how to control it. We really need to talk to someone about this. Maybe Gold?" James and Rumpelstiltskin had struck up an unlikely friendship during Emma and Snow's absence, and they talked to each other more than before. Both had been surprised by what had occurred between them.

"That sounds like a good idea. Emma, just calm down and close your eyes. Think about returning the pot. And I'm pretty sure it's holding a grudge against me for some reason." Snow was ready to defend herself if need be, but she didn't think she had to.

Emma tried to calm down and she did close her eyes, hoping her mother was right. She thought about putting the pot back under the sink. "This better work."

"It's back!" August grinned at her when her eyes opened and then hugged her. "I'm really proud of you." He definitely hadn't expected anything like this to manifest, but he was going to try and do his best to her through it. Emma wouldn't be alone in figuring out how to control her abilities. He was going to make sure of it.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" Emma was terrified and denial was no longer a coping mechanism that was going to work. She wasn't ready for this – Hell, she hadn't even been ready to be the Savior and break the curse. Now she had telekinesis on top of that? What else could she do?"

"Oh, sweetheart. It's going to be fine, so please don't worry." Snow walked over to her daughter's side and started rubbing her back to calm her down. She kissed the top of her head and then led Emma over to the couch.

"I didn't want any of this and now it's all happening at once and now I'm not sure what to do." Emma didn't care that she was rambling because she had to vent. She had a feeling that keeping her feelings locked up wasn't going to help her anymore, and she was tired of being that person. She wanted to be the kind of person that was able to lo … like August like he deserved to be. (And she was going to continue avoiding the reason why he had turned back into a human, too. That wasn't going to be addressed again for a long time.)

Emma's powers continued to manifest over the next few months and they varied. They seemed to mostly pop up when she was emotionally charged, something that wasn't unusual. She wasn't a witch, that much for certain, but she definitely was something other than the Savior. Snow, James, Mother Superior, Rumpelstiltskin, and August worked hard to figure out what was going on. Henry ended up dragging a reluctant Regina into the research at one point, but still, no one could figure out the why of Emma's powers.

The first power to manifest after telekinesis was empathy. She walked in on Ruby and Granny fighting and just lost it. Emma started screaming at how Granny treated her unfairly and she was an adult and could control her wolf powers. Luckily, no one else was in the diner to witness the meltdown, and Ruby and Granny's fight stopped immediately so they could stare at her. "Are you okay?" Ruby was pretty worried about her friend now because that had definitely been unexpected.

"You should sit down, dear. Ruby, get her some hot chocolate." Granny ignored her granddaughter rolling her eyes and huffing at her as she went to go do exactly that. She returned with a cup for Emma, and she downed it – slowly – gratefully.

"Thank you so much. I don't know what came over me. Sorry about that." Emma was confused now because she wasn't sure where that had even come from. Why had she gotten angry at Granny? She didn't care all that much about Ruby and Granny's fights.

"Snow said you manifested some powers, right? Well, what if you have empathy now? It's not that big of a stretch. You were yelling pretty hardcore at Granny and it was a little scary." Ruby had liked it, however.

"Empathy now? I'm feeling what other people feel for real? This shit sucks." Emma didn't want to find out what other powers were going to develop because she hated what she could. The telekinesis was pretty useful, though, but only when her emotions were out of whack.

"You said it. Wonder what else you can do." None of them had to wait very long – It was only about two days later that Emma's next ability popped up.

She was at the station when she got a phone call from Geppetto informing her that August had been hurt in an accident. The car didn't work and Emma nearly started crying out of desperation. The next thing she knew, she was in a hospital room. "What…?" She shook her head and started grilling the doctor about the extent of August's injuries. Luckily, he only had minor injuries and would recover fairly quickly.

"So, did you teleport here? I know it wasn't the drugs that made think you appeared in here out of nowhere." August smirked at her, but concerned. He wasn't sure that Emma was handling this very well and only seemed to panic more and more with each new surprise hurled her way.

"Yes?" Emma wanted to bolt, but she wasn't sure if she'd teleport or run. And the thought terrified the fuck out of her. She felt like she was spiraling out of control now and didn't know what to do next.

August eyed her worriedly. "Come here."

"What?"

"Just come over here for a second." She listened and tried to hide a smile when August hugged her as best as he could with his injuries. She breathed in deeply and tried to sink into the feeling. He always helped her to feel better, and Emma appreciated it very much. She lo … liked him for that, along with a variety of other reasons. It was one of the main reasons she had forgiven him for leaving her in the foster care system.

After saying goodbye to August, Emma got a ride back home with Geppetto and nearly burst into tears when she stepped through the door. James noticed his daughter was upset first and decided to comfort her. "What's wrong?"

"August got hurt and the car wouldn't work, and I ended up teleporting there." She tried to choke back the tears, but failed. She started to sob.

James couldn't stand it, and hugged her. "Shh, you're okay. We're going to figure this out. I promise you that, okay? Please stop crying." He couldn't stand it when Snow, Emma, or Henry started crying.

"I'm scared." She hated to admit that, but it was the truth. Her entire world was crumbling down around her and she wasn't sure to handle all these abilities that were showing up. Emma didn't want this at all.

"I know you are. So are we. But you don't have to hold it in and now tell anyone until you have a meltdown. That's what your mother and I are here for. Or someone else in town if you can't talk to us. You're not alone anymore." He hugged her tighter and then pulled away.

She started to calm down and sniffled as the tears started to dry up. "Thanks, Da …" She cringed, hoping James hadn't caught her slip.

He beamed. "You're welcome. And you don't ever have to thank me for comforting you. That's what I'm here for." James would do his best to make sure that his family was happy and healthy. He didn't like when situations like this occurred.

Emma's magical abilities continued to surprise her for a long time until she managed to get them under control with help from her family and others. She was magic, and she had to learn how to handle that. But luckily, she wasn't alone and never would be again.


End file.
